


Vigilante Justice

by Halfdemondolphin



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: DC AU - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2019-08-23 04:49:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16612229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Halfdemondolphin/pseuds/Halfdemondolphin
Summary: Batman’s no killing rule is nice, in theory. But when friends, family members, an entire town are at risk almost constantly? Someone is bound to do something. And that someone isn’t a teenage girl with a lot of repressed issues and a shit ton of kids that hate The Joker almost as much as she does.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WadeyBabey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WadeyBabey/gifts).



_“This_ _might_ _be it, folks. The great Batman may have finally snapped. Today may be the day he finally puts an end to the Joker for good!”_

Someone’s phone was propped up against someone else’s backpack so the whole table could watch everything unfold. The Joker had done some more crazy shit. At this point they’d forgotten what. And, as usual, Batman had come to stop him.

“He’s gonna do it!”

“He’s not gonna do it.”

“I seriously think he’s gonna do it this time!”

“You guys are all ridiculous. He won’t do it. He’s too chicken shit.” Pierce sighed.

“Oh my god, NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR OPINION, DICKWAD!” Ruby absolutely lost her shit. The group turned to their quarreling friends for just a moment.

“What, you’re defending Batman now?! What’s next, you start saying The Penguin is actually a nice guy? The Riddler is entirely sane?” Pierce said.

“No, but he’s gonna do it! He’s gonna-“

“He didn’t.” Emilia said, watching the news coverage the others had abandoned. The entire group groaned.

“Why the FUCK didn’t he just finish it?!” Ruby exclaimed.

“Cause he’s got morals and shit.” Dahlia sighed.

“Bull! If he had morals, he wouldn’t risk letting more innocent people die!” Jay threw his water bottle at the ground. “This is getting ridiculous!”

“Pick that up right now!” One of the lunch monitors scolded him. “And you all need to stop insulting Batman. He’s the hero of Gotham city! He’s saved many lives!” Ah yes. Everyone over the age of 20 in Gotham still believed Batman was a hero.

“He just shoves all the bad guys back into Arkham so they can escape again!” Jay exclaimed.

“He’s got a point.” Emilia agreed. “When was the last time you saw anyone actually get out of Arkham without breaking out?”

“Um...” the teacher thought. “The Riddler!”

“Nope. The Penguin did that.”

“Well how about Harley Quinn?”

“Green thumb seduced the guards.”

“Green thumb? I don’t remember that one-“

“Poison Ivy.”

“Oh. Please don’t give the super villains nicknames.” The teacher said.

“And remember the incident with Pengu? He just WALKED OUT!” Jay continued, not listening. “HE. WALKED. OUT. OF. JAIL.”

“It’s not jail, it’s an asylum.” The teacher said. “And we could go all day talking about escaped convicts. I’m sure every member of the league has had their fair share. I don’t here you lot complaining about Superman! Or Wonder Woman!”

“You ever heard of the time someone cloned Hitler?”

“Or better yet, ever heard of Nuclear Man?”

“No, I don’t-“

“That’s right. That’s cause Wonder Woman and Superman do their fucking jobs.” Dahlia said.

“Language!”

“A crazy clown just BLEW UP A BANK and her SWEARING is what you have a problem with?” Jay looked like he was about to explode.

“We have no control over what happens outside this school, but we have control over what comes out of our mouths!” The teacher said. She continued to drone on and on until she finally left.

The group sat, angrily eating what was left of the bag of chips Pierce had brought. “She’s got a point you know.” Damian finally spoke.

“Shut up, Robin.” Emilia said shortly.

Damian looked very uncomfortable. The group had given him the nickname “Robin” as he persistently defended Batman. Though, after seeing his reaction every time, they started to think he actually might be Robin. He definitely had the right temperament for beating up villains 24/7. And the right attendance record. And whenever Batman was fighting someone on the news, he always got all fidgety, like he knew there was somewhere he had to be. “Why do you insist on calling me that?”

“It’s a nickname, spandex. Get used to it.” Jay said.

“Spandex?” Damian said. “Hardly accurate. Not that I would know.”

“Jesus, Dahlia, where did you find this kid?!”

“Same place I find all you crazy bitches. Gotham City Preparatory School. Home of the rich assholes of the most fucked up city in America.”

“That might not be entirely true. Ever been to Dallas?” Jay said.

“Pretty sure the Joker just broke out of a police car.” Emilia said, pointing at the window.

”Touché.”


	2. Someone should yeet the clown man 6 feet under.

Batman was once again trending on Twitter as anyone over the age of 20 praised him like he was a god, and everyone under 20 wondered why he hadn’t already yeeted the clown man six feet under.

Dahlia walked home. She waded through a group of people taking videos of Nightwing fighting some poor idiot who’d tried to rob a jewelry store. She didn’t even stop to look.

She got home and went straight to her room, opening up the news app on her phone. The Joker had escaped already. She was sure that had to be some sort of record.

She opened up the group chat that was already in full swing.

 

BlueJay: He’s literally dressed as a clown. Like, that’s a choice he made.

Emilia (Mom): And Batman is dressed as a bat. Your point?

Ruby: I’m honestly surprised he didn’t finish him.

Prick: You honestly expected him to?

Robin: Fuck off, Pierce. Not his fault he has morals and you don’t.

Prick: You fuck off, Robin.

Ruby: Conspiracy theory: Damian is legitimately Robin.

Robin: No I’m not!

BlueJay: Would that make Bruce Wayne Batman?

Emilia (Mom): He does have the cash...

Prick: Lmao

Robin: Can someone help me with the math homework?

Ruby: Ooh changing the subject

Ruby: Suspicious

BlueJay: Whatcha hiding, Robin?

 

Dahlia laughed a little. You’d think they would be nicer to Damian, since he’d only been transferred to their school because he beat the shit out of some kid at his old school, but it was just too easy to make fun of this kid.

 

Dahlia: Conspiracy theory: Damian’s hot brother is Nightwing.

BlueJay: Where ya been bitch

Dahlia: Nightwing crowd on my way home

Emilia (Mom): Oof

Ruby: Clown man got out again

Dahlia: Yeah, I heard.

Emilia (Mom): I literally pointed it out to you idiots

Prick: Is anyone really surprised?

Robin: It’s not Batman’s fault that the police are incompetent

Dahlia: One of us should just kill the clown.

BlueJay: Fuck yeah

Emilia (Mom): I’ll bring the snacks!

Prick: My dad has some high end hunting rifles locked up.

Dahlia: Locked up? My dads got one in every drawer in the goddamn house.

Emilia(Mom): I thought you were pro gun control?

Dahlia: I am

Dahlia: He isn’t

Ruby: You think Nightwing will show up?!

Prick: Stop thirsting over Nightwing, Jesus Christ.

BlueJay: I’m with horny, he’s cute

Robin: Guys I seriously think you should rethink this.

Dahlia: Relax, Robin. I’m kidding.

 

Dahlia switched to the group chat that Damian wasn’t a part of.

 

Dahlia: I’m not kidding.

 

...

...

...

BlueJay: Fuck yeah, on my way

 

<•><•><•><•>

 

Jay was already in Dahlias room by the time everyone had joined the group call. Minus Damian, of course. They didn’t need someone telling the police about what they were about to do.

Or his weird, rich dad who may or may not be Batman, according to rumors.

“We could get some kids from the public school down the road. Dahlia, didn’t you used to go there?” Jay said.

“Really? What’s it like?” Ruby exclaimed.

“It’s public school, not prison. It was the exact fucking same, but with shittier computers.” Dahlia sighed. “I can probably get a whole bunch of people from there. Someone wanna head down to the Narrows?”

“Crime alley? No fucking way.” Pierce said, looking absolutely disgusted.

“Fine, pussy. I’ll take Emmy.” Ruby said. “Jay, you go with Dahlia. Pierce, find out what school Damian used to go to and check there.”

“That little freak won’t tell me-“

“Oh my god, Pierce, just shut up. Please.” Dahlia sighed. “I’ll talk to Robin.”

“So wait, we’re actually going to murder someone?”

Emilia’s question stopped the group in their tracks. They’d all wanted to be rid of the Joker so bad, they hadn’t considered what exactly that meant.

Dahlia spoke first. “Sure. If that’s what it takes. I’m not about to let him murder one of you guys.”

Jay nodded solemnly.

“What if we get caught?” Emilia continued. 

“I heard some story about a murder a few decades ago that was never solved. Apparently, there were dozens, maybe hundreds of witnesses, but no one said anything because the guy that got murdered was terrorizing the city.” Ruby said.

“So what, we rely on the people of Gotham to do the right thing?” Pierce scoffed.

Dahlia shrugged. “No, we rely on them to do the wrong thing for the right reasons. Isn’t that the Gotham motto?”

“He probably won’t die, to be honest. At this point, it’s been all but confirmed that he’s immortal.” Said Ruby, always the conspiracy theorist.

Everyone knew it wasn’t true, but they went along with it, because that sounded better than agreeing to commit premeditated murder.

Ruby went to grab something while the other talked about how exactly they were going to pull this off.

 

She came back a few minutes later. “Guys, my mom said no homicide.”

“FUCK-“


	3. Not NECESSARILY murder

The five of them had come up with a plan. Dahlia and Jay would head to the public school, Ruby and Emilia would head to the “bad part of town”, and Pierce would stay at school and cover for them. Maybe get some information out of Damian.

 

Dahlia and Jay hopped on a bus at lunch the next day. Dahlia noticed the bus driver taking a seemingly unnecessary detour to avoid one of the jokers old hideouts. Just in case.

They arrived a few minutes before the next period started. Dahlia lead the way into the cafeteria, Jay trailing behind her like a lost puppy. Dahlia would have made some sort of joke about Jay being sheltered, because he was, but this was Gotham. Nobody, no matter how rich or protected, was truly safe. Everyone knew that.

Dahlia remembered meeting Jay. He’d accidentally shoved her into a garbage can on her fist day at a new school. Ah, friendship.

Dahlia entered the cafeteria and sat with a few of her old friends. None of the teachers said anything. Either they didn’t recognize their prep school uniforms, or they just didn’t care.

“Dahlia! What are you doing here?!” One of the girls screeched excitedly, standing up. Dahlia gave her a look and she sat back down quickly. “Oh god, are the cops after you again?”

“AGAIN?!” Jay exclaimed.

Dahlia whole heartedly ignored him. “Listen, we’ve got a really fucking stupid idea to get rid of the Joker. Permanently. You in?”

“Yeah, obviously.” Said another girl. “What do you need us to do?”

“Just show up. I’ll text you everything later. Just get as many people in on it as you can.”

The group of girl nodded. “Are you gonna kill the son of a bitch?” One asked.

Dahlia looked at Jay. “If it comes to that.”

“Good.”

 

<•><•><•><•>

 

Ruby lead the way into the most poverty stricken part of town. Emilia could feel people watching her. Ruby couldn’t give less of a shit. She just rambles on about how she was SURE Jacob Elliot was Robin. His dad, Thomas, was SURELY Batman. It just made sense.

“Ruby, this is a bad idea...” Emilia warned as they wandered down the street.

“Probably.”

“Do you want to get yourself killed?”

“Yeah?? What kind of question is that, this is Gotham, death is imminent anyways.”

Emilia sighed. “You’re fucking insane, you know that?”

“Again, this is Gotham sweetie.” Ruby said. Emilia rolled her eyes. Ruby noticed a group of teenage boys that looked ready to break someone’s spine at a moments notice.

Ruby went up to them before Emilia could run in the opposite direction.

“Hi! We’re gonna kill someone, you in?”

One of the boys scoffed. “You? Kill someone? Who?”

“Well, maybe not ME necessarily, but one of our friends has a lot of anger issues. She’s gonna kill the joker.”

The boys looked surprised. “That’s suicide.”

“But what a way to go.” Ruby agreed.

One of the boys shrugged. “Fuck it. Why not.”

“Great! Give me your phone, I’ll put my number in.”

One of the boys handed her his phone, and she entered her number. “I’ll text you guys the details! Get as many people as you can!”

And with that, she skipped down the road the way she’d come.

Emilia stood there awkwardly for a few seconds. “I’ll just... go...”

Eventually, she caught up to Ruby. “Well that wasn’t so bad!”

At that very moment, some garden variety psychopath in a ridiculous costume emerged from the shadows, cackling evilly. “Hello, ladies-“

Before he could finish, Emilia had pepper sprayed him, and Ruby had grabbed her pocket knife and stabbed him in the leg.

“FUCK! SHE STABBED ME! SHE FUCKING STABBED ME!” He screamed. Ruby grabbed Emilia’s hand and they raced off.

Someone was laughing really hard behind them, and someone else was cheering and laughing.

“Nice job.” Ruby joked.

“Thank you. You’re not so bad yourself.” She giggled as they raced back to school.

 

<•><•><•><•>

 

Pierce sat with Damian at lunch. He’d made up some lie about the others having a field trip.

Pierce didn’t really like Damian. To be fair, he didn’t like anyone. The only reason he had any friends at all was because his father and Ruby’s dad were business partners.

Damian had joined their group only because Dahlia had felt bad for the kid. He’d seemed so angry at the world. She’d been there. She was still there, to be honest.

Damian worked on some homework that seemed way too advanced.

“So...” Pierce began.

“Don’t.”

“Gladly.”


	4. A comprehensive history of Batman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I totally forgot about this for a sec but it should be done soon!! A few more chapters to go!!

“The history of Gotham” was a subject offered at Gotham preparatory school. There was only one class between both semesters, because no one wanted to listen to the history teachers rant about the amazing Batman for an hour a day.

To Dahlia, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to ensure she saw all her friends every day.

So, all five of them took the class. Coincidentally, that was where they’d met Damian Wayne, the youngest of billionaire Bruce Wayne’s many, MANY children.

He was an... interesting kid. He basically had two moods: rage and discomfort. They’d needed an extra person for a group project one day, and he’d had no one, so he’d joined them, and eventually joined their friend group permanently.

 

It had been three days since they’d started recruiting people. For what? They weren’t quite sure yet. But it was going to be big.

They’d started a group chat (on Snapchat obviously, they didn’t need people reading their plans) with the 5 of them, and a few people from each of the surrounding schools.

They sat in class, listening to the teacher talk about pre-Batman Gotham.

“I’m going to give you time to work on a new project. You’ll be working in groups-“ The teacher began. The five of them immediately looked at each other.

“of three.”

Dahlia slammed her hand down on Jay’s desk, which was next to hers. Emilia did the same with Ruby.

“We get Damian!” Dahlia said. He had the highest grade in the class, after all.

“Fine, we’ll take Prick.” Ruby sighed.

“That’s not my name-“ Pierce began.

“No one cares.”

“Each group will pick one of the Gotham’s most notorious criminals and create a presentation about their history.” The teacher wrote the list ok the board.

 

The Penguin

The Riddler

Harley Quinn

 

“Mrs, Harley Quinn isn’t a criminal anymore. I mean, she is, but she’s a good guy now.” Ruby corrected her. Ruby made it a priority to know the going ons in Gotham’s underworld. Again, always the conspiracy theorist.

“Then put that in your project. You three get Harley Quinn.” The teacher sighed, and continued.

 

Poison Ivy

Mad Hatter

Scarecrow

The Joker

 

“We call the Joker!” Dahlia exclaimed.

The teacher looked like she wished she’d picked a different career. “Fine.”

The rest of the groups argued over who would get which villain, while Dahlia got to work.

“Anyone know any information about the Jokers past?” Dahlia asked, creating a ridiculously cheerful Google Slide.

“His real name is John Doe, I think.” Damian said.

Dahlia laughed. “We need his REAL real name.”

Damian looked confused. “That is his real name...”

“You do know what a John Doe is, right?” Jay asked. “It’s what they call someone in a coma or something when they don’t know their name.”

“Oh...”

Dahlia pulled up some obscure website on her laptop. “Check it out, people think that the Joker might be one of the Valeska Twins.” She showed the boys a few pictures of nearly identical 20-something year olds, who both looked equally insane but in very different ways.

She dug a little deeper. “So apparently one of them, Scarface I think, got murdered back before Gordon was even captain. And then brought back to life. And then murdered again...”

“Sounds like the Joker to me.” Jay agreed, disinterested.

“But check out the second guy. The first guy snapped and killed his mom, the second guy snapped and blew up half the fucking city.”

Jay looked interested. “Oh shit, the nerdy looking one?”

“Yeah. Damian, he worked for your dads company. Biggest Wayne Enterprises scandal to date.”

Damian looked shocked. “Father might have known the Joker?”

“First of all, stop calling him ‘father’, that’s weird.” Jay said.

“No it isn’t!”

“Yeah it is.” Dahlia agreed.

“Anyways,” Jay continued, “I think we need to talk to your dad. Can we go to your place? Is he around much or-“

“That’s not a good idea.”

Jay looked interested. “Why not? What’re you guys hiding?”

Damian tensed up before quickly brushing it off. “Oh, you know, he’s just busy all the time. And I have a lot of annoying siblings that’ll get in our way if we try to get any work done.”

Jay rolled his eyes and started doing something on his phone.

Dahlia felt her phone vibrate.

 

New message from BlueJay: You ask he doesn’t hate you.

 

Dahlia opened her messages.

 

Dahlia: He doesn’t hate you either.

BlueJay: He Hayes everyone but u

BlueJay: *Hayes

BlueJay: FUCK

BlueJay:**hates

 

Dahlia shoved her phone back in her pocket and tried her luck. “Come on, if the Joker worked for your dad, he could help us with the project. Even if he isn’t there, your place is bigger, and therefore has better snacks.”

Damian sighed. “Fine!”

Jay smirked.

Dahlia rolled her eyes. “Does Friday work for everyone?”


End file.
